NOVEL NEXT 21: Pot Floating
Pushing the door open, the faint chime of bells signaled their entrance as a woman with combed-back hair and a brown uniform looked up from the counter.
Averting her eyes, Astrid didn’t pay the cashier too much mind and looked around. Strewn around the cashier were a few pamphlets and books all concerning various plant types and how to raise them. Then, filling the interior of the store were rows upon rows of plants.
“Let’s just walk around and browse for a bit.” Valencia murmured under her breath as she walked off in one direction. “Any type of flower you’re looking for?”
Following Valencia while keeping a firm grasp on her hand, Astrid’s eyes widened as the store underwent a seamless transition.
Moving past its prim and proper front interior area, the store opened up into a small greenhouse area that let in streams of sunlight to bask the plants in a warm glow. “I’m looking for something small. Probably just a single flower or two in a small pot that we can put in our room.”
Pausing for a second, Astrid crouched down, brushing a small flower. “Well, it’s still my room, but you’ve been sleeping with me ever since I woke up so it feels like our room...”
“I can always sleep in my own room if you want,” Valencia crouched down as well, taking some mental notes on which flowers caught Astrid’s attention.
“Nooo...” Astrid frowned as she leaned against Valencia with a fake teary pout. “You should stay... My bed is big enough and you’re so warm at night...”
“I know, I know,” Valencia laughed as she pinched Astrid’s nose. “Anyway, as for the flower, how do you feel about this one here? Is this what you’re looking for?”
“Not really...” Astrid sighed as she pushed herself up and smoothed out her dress. “Let’s keep looking!”
“Alright, let’s browse,” Valencia followed along behind Astrid as she wandered around the store. “This place is actually part of a chain of stores owned by an acquaintance of mine, I’ve visited a fair few of their other stores and they’ve all had a pretty good selection.”
“Ohh... the friend you got the tea leaves from?” Astrid asked as she resisted the urge to channel power into her fingertips to bless each of the flowers she brushed against. “How did you get to know this person? We have to thank them for making your tea taste so good!”
Valencia’s mind spun for a moment to think of a quick excuse. Disguising her thinking time with a cough, Valencia shrugged. “Her family owned the business, but we were childhood friends. So I just exchanged letters with her every once and a while.”
“Aww, that’s cute of you two,” Astrid turned back, reaching out with a hand. “Cia~ My hand is lonely and needs a friend.”
“What a coincidence, mine is too.” Valencia smiled, happy to play along with Astrid’s little antics. “It’s been so long since you’ve done that lonely hand joke that my heart almost fluttered a bit.”
“Ah... yeah it has been a while hasn’t it...” Astrid sighed as she walked through the various aisles with Valencia. “I stopped saying it once I got attacked, didn’t I? Everything hurt too much back then, I didn’t have any energy for the small things anymore...”
Squeezing Astrid’s hand with her own, Valencia leaned her head against Astrid’s. “Don’t worry about it, love. Let’s not talk about those times right now. It’s our first date in a long time, we should just focus on the present.”
“You’re right, it’s in the past,” Astrid sighed before breaking into a small smile. “Okay, wait. I just saw a flower and pot back in that aisle we just walked past that I liked!”
Dragging Valencia along by the hand, Astrid spun on her heel to return to the aisle they brushed past. Letting go of Valencia’s hand after a brief moment of hesitation, Astrid reached forward and picked up the pot with both hands.
With a quiet “umph” slipping out of her mouth as she struggled to lift it, Astrid spun to give Valencia a look at the flowers. “It’s us!”
The two flowers, with their petals a nice purple and yellow gradient, sat together in one pot and intertwined as they grew upwards.! They weren’t Astrid’s favorite type of flower—she was more partial to water lilies—but they were still pretty and could be kept in her room.
Looking back over her shoulder, Astrid read the label. “It says they’re a type of... viola? I don’t remember many flower names.”
“Here let me carry the pot,” Valencia took the flowers from Astrid’s struggling hands before leaning forward and giving her a kiss. “Want to go buy it now or look around some more just in case?”
“... Let’s look around a little more,” Astrid tapped her chin before returning with a kiss of her own. “Are you sure you’re okay, though? It’s a heavy pot! And you’re carrying our bag...”
With Valencia raising an eyebrow, Astrid sighed and turned away. “I know you’re strong... but you know... you know, what if it’s still too heavy? I can take the bag if you want!”
“Don’t worry about it, dear,” Valencia lifted the flower pot a couple times like she was working out. “I’ll let you know if I want you to take the bag, okay? It’s not too hard, after all I’ll just be floating the pot along, and that doesn’t take any effort from me.”
Nodding with a faint squint of suspicion, Astrid continued on her little meander through the store. Looking at a couple other flower types, pot styles, and more, Astrid couldn’t help but laugh and smile as she spent a little over half an hour in the store while chatting with Valencia.
In the end though, after making a few jokes about the old English classes they took together in school, the two settled on the original flowers because of the ‘symbolism.’
“Sorry to make you carry so much, Cia...” Astrid pushed the door open, holding it for Valencia as they left the store. “Anything I can do for you?”
“Mnn... not really...” Valencia shrugged, flicking her fingers forward to carry the pot through the door. Extending a hand, Valencia flashed a brilliant smile and gave Astrid a wink. “Let’s just hold hands.”
Beaming with an “Okay!” Astrid couldn’t keep a straight face as laughs began slipping out. Squeezing Valencia’s hand as Valencia coughed and turned away, Astrid tugged Valencia forward a couple of steps to let the door close. “Don’t worry, it was really cool and really sexy! Just... a little corny at the same time.”
Walking back towards the store, Astrid rested her head against Valencia’s shoulder as they retraced their steps. Deciding to try and explain to Valencia the information she had gotten earlier, Astrid tested her knowledge with a furrow in her eyebrow. “... I think that’s the cafe you mentioned earlier... the one with a bit of a long history. It’s family-owned right?”
Getting an “mhm,” from Valencia and a curious look from a passer-by as they noticed the floating potted plant, Astrid stroked her chin and looked down the bridge towards the city center. “Then that big building, the one a little lower to the ground but taking up more space, the complex it's a part of is the school you mentioned right?”
“Not quite... it’s close to a school though so I’ll give you that,” Valencia pointed, squeezing Astrid’s hand. “It’s kind of a training center for a few of the big groups, but since the ages greatly differ, it’s not really a school.”
“I... see.” Astrid stroked her chin with a curious tilt of the head. “Could we go there?”
“...Maybe,” Valencia struggled a bit as her brain kicked back into overdrive. “We’d have to affiliate ourselves with one of the three organizations though. Just to visit, I know, they’re really stringent like that.”
“Awh, okay, don’t worry about it, I like being free right now...” Astrid hugged Valencia’s arm before flashing a bright smile. “It lets us do stuff like this! Like I bet we couldn’t do our date right now if we were part of that academy!”
Watching Valencia break into a faint smile while staring at the academy in the distance, Astrid couldn’t help but give her a peck on the cheek.
She wasn’t sure if their journey was unique, she wasn’t sure why their feelings sprouted, and she didn’t know if their feelings even meant anything tangible...
But.
She couldn’t stop the warmth blossoming in her chest...
